No news is NOT always good news

Hello, my friends. We have decided to update our old blog after seven years so we can keep all of you up to speed on what is happening to our dear Madison. After weeks of trying to figure out why she was vomiting and having headaches, an MRI early this morning revealed that Madi had a mass in her brain that was causing pressure and swelling. The doctors said it was life-threatening and rushed us in an ambulance from Children's in Waltham (where we had the MRI) to the main Boston Children's campus downtown. They took her directly from the ambulance to the operating room and started surgery prep within five minutes of being there. We are all reeling and putting pieces together as they come. She is out of surgery right now and stable. The operation went really well. The doctor said we got her in just in time. Any more days (or hours) could have killed her. The good news is that they were able to remove a decent amount of the tumor - maybe as much as 75%. The bad news is that there's still 25% left and they believe it is malignant. They are waiting for the pathology reports to tell us what kind of cancer it is and then it will help us know better how to treat it. Early indications are that she'll be in the ICU for 2 days, then a regular hospital room for 3-4 days. Depending on how things go, she may be home early next week. In one to two weeks, we'll have all the pathology results back and will be able to work out a treatment plan with an oncologist. That will likely include radiation and chemotherapy. We will post more details here as they come, and truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers for Madison during this difficult time.